Hundreds of Millions of iPhones Can Be Hacked With a New Tool Found in the Wild
A new hacking tool called DarkSword has been found in infected websites, putting a quarter of iPhone users at risk worldwide.
San Francisco: A new iPhone hacking tool called DarkSword is letting bad actors steal personal data from phones worldwide. The tool can take over phones that visit certain infected websites. Security experts found this dangerous tool being used in the wild after it was quietly embedded in websites.
DarkSword works against iPhones running iOS 18 or earlier versions. Apple says about 25% of iPhone users are still on these older systems. That means hundreds of millions of people could have their passwords, photos, and other personal information stolen just by visiting a popular website.
The hackers made a big mistake that’s putting even more people at risk. They left the complete DarkSword code available for anyone to copy and use. The code even has English comments explaining how it works. Now other criminals could easily take it and target more victims.
Attackers could steal almost everything from infected phones. This includes message histories from apps like iMessage, WhatsApp, and Telegram. They can grab photos, web browsing history, health data, and even cryptocurrency wallet passwords.
Unlike traditional spyware that installs on phones and is easy to detect, DarkSword uses the phone’s normal functions to steal data. It works like invisible malware that leaves few traces behind while taking what it wants. Apple has not commented on this discovery, but users should update to the newest version of iOS to stay protected.